Improvement in hinges



Ny PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPRER. WASHINGTON. D C4 UNITED STATES PATENT FFIC.

A J M. RILEY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF ANDVV. A.

SCHMIDT, OF SAME PLACE.

I IMPROVEMENT IN HINGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,423, dated October' 10, 1865.

' To all whom it 'may concern:

, Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are cross-sections taken on the lines cc, y, and z of Fig. 2, respectively. Fig. 6 is an elevation ofthe central butt, b3, with part of the spring, its key, and inclosin gtube. Figs. 7,8, and 9 are detailed views of one of the butts which actuates the spring of the hinge. Figs. 10 and l1 are detailed views 0f one of the nuts, B. Figs. 12 and 13 are detailed views of the top of the inclosing-tube at the upper end of the door and of the butt connected to it.

Similar letters ofreference indicate like parts.

This inventionconsists oi' a spring doorhingc which closes the door by automatic action. It is ot' a length about equal to the door, and it is so made as to conceal the spring and the parts which actuate it and are. actuated by it, so that they are protected from the weather.

A A are metallic base-plates which support the butts b c b3 c3, and by which the hinge is attached to the door and its casing. E E are tubes set end to end but not in contact with each other. Their united length is the length of the hinge. Their outer ends are fixed to the butts b at the end of the hinge by means of a screw-thread connection or otherwise, and their inner ends are fixed to the central butt, b3,in a similar manner. The nuts B have hubs 5, which tit loosely in the ends ofthe tubes E.

These hubs are mortised t`o receive the end of the spring-rods C, by whose torsion the hinge 1s made to operate to keep the door closed, as hereinafter explained.

The letters b c designate butts, which are connected either to the door or door-casing. Those butts Z which are at the ends of the hinge are fitted to the outer ends of the tubes E lby means of screw-threads, and those butts have fianges b2, of equal diameter with the nuts B, to which they are connected by setscrews d. They are not so connected, however, until the spring-rods C are properly set, or, in other words, have the desired torsion given to them by the rotation ot' the nuts B. The other butts are designated by the letters b3 c3. These and the butts b c are fixed to outer cylinders, b c', respectively, which inclose the tubes E. All the butts are connected to the base-plates A A'.

The inner ends of the springs C are xed in mortises made in the keys D. The keys have rotary motion in their tubes E', their motions being limited by pins h h, which project later ally from the keys through slots V made in the tubes. Said slots measure about one-fourth of the circumference of the respective tubes, and one of them is seen in Fig. 6. The inner ends of the tube E are screwed into the central butt, b3, of the hinge, whose sides are made thicker than the sides ot the other, b c. The inner ends ot' the tubes are further secured to the said central butt by means of screwbolts c e, which pass through them from the back side ot' the butt, so that said tubes and the butt Zr" have no motion one upon the other. c3 c3 are the butts which inclose the pins h h, and which actuate the spring-rods through them. The pins h may be made continuous andsingle-tl'iatis, ot'one hat piece-if desired. J J are semicircular plates iittcd Within the cylinder c of the butt c3 and xed securely to them by screws f. The edges ot' said plates J are designated by the letters c2.

O 0 are collars placed about the tubes E at the ends of the outer cylinders, b c'. These collars form the joints of the latter cylinders, and they may either be parts thereot' or they may be separate pieces, and the ends of said cylinders be soldered on the smaller ends of the collars or driven on them so tightly that they will move together. The ends of each pair of collars may be protected by washers, it' desired. The collar at thelower end of each ofthe outer cylinders has an oil-hole, 2, to enable one to lubricate the `joints and the collars, so that they may have easy motion upon the tubes E. Those butts which occur between the butts c3 and the outer butts, b, and which iill up the intervening space, serve to support the door and sustain the tubes E by means of their respective cylinders b c.

The letter designates wood, which I have used in this example to lill up the spaces which intervene between the outer cylinders, bc, and

. the plates A A.

The operation of the hinge is as follows: The several parts are connected to each other in the relations shown in Fig. 2, the lower spring-rod, C, and its appurtenances being so arranged that the torsion put upon it shall be in a direction opposite to the torsion pnt upon the upper spring. The torsion is effected by means of the nuts B, which are turned until they bring the pins h against the edges ot' the slots V of the inner tubes E', at which time, also, they will strike against the edges c2 of the plates J, the plates J being so arranged as to bring the parts to this position when they are put together.

Figs. 3 and 5 illustrate the condition to which these parts are to be brought, or, in other Words, their relations to each other, although-the pins h are not shown in those iigures in the right positions to be acted on by the plates J. The movement ofthe door upon its hinges is supposed, in this example, to be about ninety degreesin either direction. When itis pushed in either directionone ot the plates -J drives the pins 7L through or across the slot V until they reachits opposite edge, when the door will have lnoved through about ouequarter ot' a circle. This action puts an increased torsional strain upon the rod, Whose Aother end is held fast in the hub 5 of the nut,

which nut is held fast or stationary by means of the flange of the adjacent butt, b, which butt is fast on the end of the tube E. These tubes E do not revolve with the door, but are held stationary Within the cylinders b c. When the door is released the elasticity of the rod C causes the pins h to push the plato J back to its normal position. lhe opening ot' the door in the opposite direction operates the other plate J and its appropriate pins 7L and spring C. An equal tension or torsion is to be made on the springs C C when the hinge is adjusted for use, so that they will have equal pressure upon the several plates J J, and thereby keep the opposite parts ot1 the hinge in equilibrium, so that the door will always remain closed. The tubes E may bejoined so as to form a single tube instead ot' being divided.

All the operative parts of the hinge are concealed from view and from exposure in the construction here shown.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1,. Constructing a continuous door-hinge in vthemannerand for theobjects herein described and represented.

2. The key l) of the spring-rod and `its pins h, in combination with the slot V of the tube E', substantially as above described.

3. The combination ot' the semicircular plate J ot' the butt c3 with the key D ot' the springrod, substantially as described.

JOHN M. RILEY.

Witnesses:

W. BRADsHAW, P. N. PRYERsoN. 

